Monday, June 28, 2010

Marlin and I met Dad and Shelley in the Crowsnest Pass this weekend for a hike. We decided to stick to a hike that wasn't too strenuous because it is still early in the season. We ended up doing Deadman's Pass (not nearly as scary as it sounds) and it was perfect.

The weather was great.

The scenery was great.

And the company was great too! :)

We borrowed a backpack from Kim for Coulee to try out. She acted like she wasn't carrying a thing and she actually had 2 litres of water on her back. We will definitely be purchasing a few of these for the girls.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Yesterday Sandy and I went out for my first hike of the season. There have been some summers where I have hiked quite a bit but that hasn't been lately. I am woefully out of shape and hope to change that a bit this summer.

We headed out to Waterton National Park. I love Waterton. It has all the beauty of the other mountain National Parks but without all the crowds. Although that might be changing. I was shocked at how many people we saw on the trail. It was a Tuesday in June and there were still lots of people. But maybe that was just because not all the trails are in good shape yet so everyone was forced on to the same few trails. Regardless, we had fun.

We went up to Bertha Falls and then further up to Bertha Lake. It was a perfect first hike - not too hard, not too far and beautiful scenery along the way.

We were both only brave enough to bring one dog each and both Mira and Lacey can be a little shy, but they both did great meeting all the new people. They also enjoyed rolling in the patches of snow we found along the way.

Lacey wore her little backpack and carried a few essentials for me - empty poop bags, Vector Energy bars and some goldfish crackers. She generated quite the buzz as she went by people with her little saddle bags.

I think I'm going to have to invest a "proper" backpack for both her and Coulee. The dogs had plenty to drink along the trail on this hike but it isn't always the case. Hauling water for the dogs, plus for myself and carrying a camera, food, clothing, etc. is a bit much for me. I could always leave the camera at home to make more space but what fun is that?

So thanks Sandy for hauling your butt out of bed on your day off and humoring me with a hike. It was definitely more fun with a friend!

Oh and Mom.... This was the scariest wildlife we saw this trip. So you can rest easy. :)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Why do I always see Rattlesnakes when I'm babysitting Amanda's dogs? I was too afraid to get any closer to get a better picture. He/She was NOT happy with us! Thankfully the dogs were content to leave it alone.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

I took the dogs out early this morning for their run before going to the adoption fair and volunteering as a dog wrangler. With the frisbee MIA, I broke out the chicken. It was a pretty big hit.

The road down to the park was closed due to flooding so we walked down the road instead. I'm not sure if Lacey was excited because of the unexplored new terrain, or if the wet grass just kind of kept her in a state of excitement but all she did was run around randomly. It was pretty funny. She kept distracting Boone into thinking she was chasing the toy and leading him astray.

Boone is the funniest, quirkiest dog I know. He never fails to make you laugh.

Seriously. How cute is he?

The walk back up the hill wasn't fun for me. God I'm out of shape. The water in the picture below is what is flowing down the road - it isn't normally there. The river is quite high at the moment and there have been reports of flooding all over southern Alberta. The news should be interesting to watch tonight.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Ahhh... The dogs are reunited again and running in the field. It feels like the good old days. At least Lacey is back to her old tricks.

As you can tell, Lacey and Vito have a very loving relationship.

Boone left them to their shenanigans and focused on beating Coulee to the frisbee.

He even succeeded a time or two.

Even Vito got a turn. He chose to use his turn to try and kill it.

I'm pretty sure I forgot the frisbee in the park. :( By the time we got back to the car my face and hands were covered with mosquito bites and all I could think about was getting out of there. I'm sad. I really liked that frisbee.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Thanks for the suggestions everyone for what to do to help out Coulee's poop. We've added fibre to Coulee's diet and the good news is that she no longer poops golf balls. The bad news is she is now pooping lemons. Seriously. These things have girth and while they are no longer rock hard, they are still pretty firm. She also had 5 poops in 3 hours this morning. I'm not sure if this is better or worse. Maybe she just needs time to adjust.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I think the girls enjoyed their weekend camping, but it was nice to get home and be able to stretch their legs again.

I'm really enjoying seeing green. The grass is almost taller than Lacey.

She even went swimming today. Normally her butt floats... She might need to gain a little fat for floation.

Question for all you dog owners out there... What can I feed Coulee to soften up her poop? I think her incontinence meds are making her poops really hard. Poor girl. Sorry if that was too much information for some of you!

Marlin and I went on our first camping trip of the season, the first camping trip with the new trailer and it was also Lacey's first trip too. We used to do a LOT of camping but these last few years have been way to busy to get away as much as we used to. We are planning on changing that this year.

The mighty fisherman preparing...

The incredible scenery....

(That is Chief Mountain in the background. It is in the US)

The adventure into the states....

(I'm way too "law abiding" to let the girls off leash in the provincial park but there was a trail that passed into the states. It was probably private land but there was no "Do Not Enter" sign so we followed the trail to the American/Canadian marker and promptly let the girls run free. Where is Lacey you ask? Rolling in cow poop of course!)

The wildlife...

(Those specks of something in the middle area are sandhill cranes. At first, Marlin thought they were deer. That is how big they are.)

(I don't think you can even make out the Tundra Swans in the wetland... there might be one on the far right. They were even farther away than the cranes. They were pretty startling white in the middle of all the greenery from certain angles though. The wetland is closed each year to the public from May-Aug so that the Tundra Swans can nest in peace. We are considering a return trip in August so we can actually go down into the wetland and not just look on it from on high).

(This guy just came up to us in the campground and was the tamest bird ever. Marlin was able to come out of the trailer with my camera without the bird even caring. Then he hopped so close to me, my camera couldn't keep focusing. I could have reached out and touched him. It was pretty cool. He is a Downy Woodpecker I think Yellowbellied Sapsucker. Could be a Hoary... I can never remember which one has the shorter beak.)

The dream home...

(It has a view of the wetland, the mountains and not much else!)

Our first trip did have some issues.... We left 19 hours later than we were supposed to due to numerous hitch problems. We didn't have running water or lights in the trailer but those are luxuries we've never had before, so it wasn't too much of a hardship. We had a great relaxing time and I can't wait to get back out there some more!

Crazy - aka Coulee

Coulee is a 9 year old border collie / golden retriever. She's got the looks of a retriever but inside she is all border collie. She is smart, fast and agile. It is always fun on a walk when she is around.

Little - AKA Lacey

I think Lacey is the cutest dog EVER. She is a 6 year old pug/cattle dog cross. She is cuddly and sweet, playful and independant. Too bad she has that cattle dog bark...otherwise she'd be perfect.